"We are not a 3-11 team at all," he said. "Period. I don't just say that. That's our record, but it does not define us. That's not what we are. We lost a good nine games that we should have won. That's the difference right there. Turn things around and things start rolling for us, we'll be fine. I think we've got a little bad luck spell right now. Once we get over that, we'll be fine."

"I've been growing a great relationship with Kyle as a person and as a teammate," DeRozan said. "He's a hell of a guy (on the court and off). He helps motivate me in a lot of ways on the court."

"You know, one thing about Kyle, it doesn't matter who he is playing, he's going to go out there with the same mindset," DeRozan said. "Go out there and win, run us, be a dog at the end of the day. I already know he's going to show up."

Casey

"It should let him know he's our leading scorer. He's our go-to guy. He just had one of the best nights of his career the night before. In a one-possession game, you're looking for a three-point shot. You need his body on the floor. His presence, for spacing, helped us. It did open up the lane. He's our guy and I'll go with him just like I would with DeMar or Kyle Lowry, some of our leading scorers. In a one-possession game, you do need scoring. I trust Andrea. It should mean that we believe in him and he's our guy."

"If he hadn't had been defending Duncan the way he had … (He was our) best defender," Casey said. "He had length on Duncan. It bothered him to a certain extent. JV is learning to guard that position. Duncan has too many tricks for a rookie. JV, it was a good experience for him when he was on him. But Andrea did an excellent job of using his length and not getting tricked in the post."

Derozan

"He always backs us up," DeRozan said. "That's one thing about coach, he doesn't care if you go 1-for-25, he still backs you up. It's part of the game at the same time. The night before, Andrea couldn't miss. Sometimes you have nights like that. I had a bad night against Detroit shooting. It just happens sometimes. You've got to bounce back the next game."

Ed Davis

"One of the best things in this league is to have people have confidence in you or have trust in you," Davis said. "If you do struggle, you have the coach on your side. That's just a great thing. There are a lot of guys in this league that can do a lot of things, but coaches don't have that trust in him."

Casey

"There is nothing worse in sports than an amputated spirit," Casey said. "The one thing I want to do is coach positively, yet still hold guys accountable. If you do see guys coming out of the game a little quicker than normal, they're being held accountable."

"We are not a 3-11 team at all," he said. "Period. I don't just say that. That's our record, but it does not define us. That's not what we are. We lost a good nine games that we should have won. That's the difference right there. Turn things around and things start rolling for us, we'll be fine. I think we've got a little bad luck spell right now. Once we get over that, we'll be fine."

"I've been growing a great relationship with Kyle as a person and as a teammate," DeRozan said. "He's a hell of a guy (on the court and off). He helps motivate me in a lot of ways on the court."

"You know, one thing about Kyle, it doesn't matter who he is playing, he's going to go out there with the same mindset," DeRozan said. "Go out there and win, run us, be a dog at the end of the day. I already know he's going to show up."

Casey

"It should let him know he's our leading scorer. He's our go-to guy. He just had one of the best nights of his career the night before. In a one-possession game, you're looking for a three-point shot. You need his body on the floor. His presence, for spacing, helped us. It did open up the lane. He's our guy and I'll go with him just like I would with DeMar or Kyle Lowry, some of our leading scorers. In a one-possession game, you do need scoring. I trust Andrea. It should mean that we believe in him and he's our guy."

"If he hadn't had been defending Duncan the way he had Ö (He was our) best defender," Casey said. "He had length on Duncan. It bothered him to a certain extent. JV is learning to guard that position. Duncan has too many tricks for a rookie. JV, it was a good experience for him when he was on him. But Andrea did an excellent job of using his length and not getting tricked in the post."

Derozan

"He always backs us up," DeRozan said. "That's one thing about coach, he doesn't care if you go 1-for-25, he still backs you up. It's part of the game at the same time. The night before, Andrea couldn't miss. Sometimes you have nights like that. I had a bad night against Detroit shooting. It just happens sometimes. You've got to bounce back the next game."

Ed Davis

"One of the best things in this league is to have people have confidence in you or have trust in you," Davis said. "If you do struggle, you have the coach on your side. That's just a great thing. There are a lot of guys in this league that can do a lot of things, but coaches don't have that trust in him."Casey

"There is nothing worse in sports than an amputated spirit," Casey said. "The one thing I want to do is coach positively, yet still hold guys accountable. If you do see guys coming out of the game a little quicker than normal, they're being held accountable."

I agree confidence is important. But do you sacrifice everyone else's confidence and do you sacrifice your own credibility with the other players by going back on numerous public statements about effort being rewarded and lack of effort being held accountable?

an

Matt52 wrote:

Casey's last quote is interesting.

I agree confidence is important. But do you sacrifice everyone else's confidence and do you sacrifice your own credibility with the other players by going back on numerous public statements about effort being rewarded and lack of effort being held accountable?

In my opinion it is not interesting as it is infuriating. Completely agree about confidence of other players being affected. Specifically Ed davis and Lowry. That is VALUABLE players that could take their talents elsewhere in the near future. Everyone else boo friggin hoo.

an amputated spirit? Im sorry I didn't realize we were coaching a pee wee team and winning isn't the most important goal. Bottome line we should be treating the players like adults.

I don't for a second like his definition of accountability either. The problem with casey, is he hasn't been CONSISTENT at all with cutting bargnani's minutes. Has Ed made mistakes, absolutely, but to constantly give him the hook while coddling bargnani is not fair to ed.

Yet, with a day to think about it, Davis still said Casey made the right call.

“Obviously, ‘Dre struggled last night,” Davis said Monday of Bargnani. “Obviously, he or DeMar [DeRozan] is our best player. They’re the guys we need to finish games. So, if you’re a coach, you’ve always got to ride with your stars. That’s what he did. ‘Dre’s never going to shoot 2-for-19 or whatever. We’ll be all right. I think it was a good thing, just to know that he has that trust, that coach Casey has that trust in him.”

In my opinion it is not interesting as it is infuriating. Completely agree about confidence of other players being affected. Specifically Ed davis and Lowry. That is VALUABLE players that could take their talents elsewhere in the near future. Everyone else boo friggin hoo.

an amputated spirit? Im sorry I didn't realize we were coaching a pee wee team and winning isn't the most important goal. Bottome line we should be treating the players like adults.

I don't for a second like his definition of accountability either. The problem with casey, is he hasn't been CONSISTENT at all with cutting bargnani's minutes. Has Ed made mistakes, absolutely, but to constantly give him the hook while coddling bargnani is not fair to ed.

I'm as big a Bargnani supporter as there still is, but I was leading the charge calling for Davis to replace Bargnani in the final minute of the 4th quarter and in overtime. I understand the idea of not wanting to "amputate a professional athlete's spirit", but I don't think anybody would be upset with being yanked from a game they were performing so poorly in, especially if they get thrown back to the wolves the next game.

One thing BC liked about Bargnani during the 2006 draft process, was how well he fared in that IQ test thing that showed he had ice in his veins, meaning he didn't dwell on negatives and could put a bad play/game behind him. So, if that was the case and that's his personality, he seems like he'd be the last guy who's spirit would be amputated by being benched in a single game, especially when it was sooooo warranted! I just didn't get Casey'd decision making during the game and I still don't get it after reading his quotes.

I'm as big a Bargnani supporter as there still is, but I was leading the charge calling for Davis to replace Bargnani in the final minute of the 4th quarter and in overtime. I understand the idea of not wanting to "amputate a professional athlete's spirit", but I don't think anybody would be upset with being yanked from a game they were performing so poorly in, especially if they get thrown back to the wolves the next game.

One thing BC liked about Bargnani during the 2006 draft process, was how well he fared in that IQ test thing that showed he had ice in his veins, meaning he didn't dwell on negatives and could put a bad play/game behind him. So, if that was the case and that's his personality, he seems like he'd be the last guy who's spirit would be amputated by being benched in a single game, especially when it was sooooo warranted! I just didn't get Casey'd decision making during the game and I still don't get it after reading his quotes.

It was one thing I always liked about bargnani, little seems to phase him.

It seems as if Casey is backpedalling, and trying to justify giving bargnani all those minutes, when me, you and matt were all able to find different valid counterpoints (in my opinion) as to why it isn't justified.

an amputated spirit? Im sorry I didn't realize we were coaching a pee wee team and winning isn't the most important goal. Bottome line we should be treating the players like adults.

I wouldn't under estimate this for a second. I'm all for treating players like adults but if you push too far and their spirit does 'break', you can end up with a situation like Charlotte's last season.

I wouldn't under estimate this for a second. I'm all for treating players like adults but if you push too far and their spirit does 'break', you can end up with a situation like Charlotte's last season.

Which resulted in sorting out their roster, adding MKG and a 7-6 record so far this year.....